Eye floaters

[Becky6X]

Hi everyone,

I suffer from quite bad anxiety and am currently 26 weeks pregnant. I've always suffered from eye floaters but a few months ago they got quite a bit worse but calmed down. For the past month or so, I've been having cobweb/squiggly lines in the sides of my vision ... but only when it's dark??? They're not directly infront of my eyes, they're seen out the corner of my eyes and when I look down. It's really baffling me because I thought eye floaters were only seen in bright lights?

Can anyone shed any light on this? My blood pressure is always normal around 110/65 and I have no protein in my urine.

I cannot remember a time when I did not notice floaters. I saw long chains of cells or something, also pinpoints, squiggles, and other shapes. Mostly when looking at something when the light was bright. I understand seeing these to be normal and not a sign of anything bad.

I have a couple of bigger and darker ones now that appeared right after the vitreous detachments. I won't lie, they have really annoyed me, especially at first. But I can honestly say that after a year or so I hardly notice them. They almost never bug me. I see them, but then forget them.

You can adjust. When it comes to things like floaters, I have learned that the least emotional energy I can give them, the less they cause me distress. If I focus on them, I find my emotional reaction ramping up. I find the best thing to do is get the proper health care person to tell me what I need to know, and then just get on with life.

That approach has worked very well for me. There are many things a human body serves up and not all of them are dangerous or a cause for worry. In fact very few. Get it checked, and then move on. I mean that in the nicest possible way.

Don't let something like eye floaters affect your happiness! Not worth it, I can assure you.

I've always had floaters.
Sometimes I notice them sometimes I don't.
The brain is very good at tuning out what it knows you don't need to see, so it's just a waiting game before that kicks in.

@CarpetMeCarpetYou
Hi thankyou for replying!
Its really feels good to know there is somebody in the same position and living just fine with the floaters! I have no one who also had floaters, i cant talk to anybody, they dont understand when im telling them about the floaters im seeing and maybe they only think im crazy!
For how long you had floaters? So now when you see them , you dont get annoyed by them anymore? They really are annoying to me now.

@BikeRunSki
Hi thankyou for replying!
So how old are you now? Do you still get bothered by the floaters or now you can learn to ignore them? Mine are really annoyed me so much! And i really need the positive story from people who also have floaters but learn to ignore them/see past them.

Btw im from indonesia sorry for my bad english.

I get this zig zaggy line thing occasionally and it's always around the peripheral vision. My optician called it an optical migraine ie you get the disturbed vision but not the headache. I usually find a short lay down in a dark place is enough to get rid, although sometimes I take a Paracetamol too (though I guess you may not be able to do that if pregnant).

Hi Feren - I’ve had the floaters about six or seven years, but very clearly remember getting them, seeing them CONSTANTLY and being really really anxious that they would always be like that.

They are still there (I just consciously looked for them and saw them!) but I don’t see them day to day now. Your brain is a marvellous thing and will “blank” them out!

@feren, I’m nearly 50 now. The floaters don’t bother me. I might go months without noticing them. They break down and decay, or my brain stops noticing them after a while. Don’t panic.

@feren - I definitely think that you'll get used to the floaters. For me, I'm just so pleased that my retina is healthy

I've had them since I was 20, so for more than half my lifetime now.

They bothered me a lot when they first appeared, but soon my brain just "tuned them out" and now I don't notice them for years on end.

@ShakespearesFister does your floater also look like black long stringy one? Moves everytime tou move your eyes? Mine are like that, they are transparent but a little black. And so annoying you dont notice them at all now? Even under bright sunlight?

@tryingtobebetterallthetime
Yes, maybe in too focused on them? Ive tried to not focus on them but still find it hard cause they are right in front of my eyes!! And moving around. And maybe its still new for me? I really do hope i can ignore them too and dont worry about them anymore. Thankyou for your advice and share me your story, its really reassuring.

@CarpetMeCarpetYou @BikeRunSki
Thankyou guys!! Maybe time will make me stop noticing them, although now still seem so impossible but knowing your experience does encouraged me that i can do it too.

@lawnmowingsucks
I hope so. Thankyou for your positivity means a lot to me!

Floaters in pregnancy can be an early sign of Pre Eclampsia, please go see your GP or Midwife.

@feren There are some a bit long and stringy, but more of them are like tiny blobs. They do move when I move my eyes.

When I first got them it was really hard to read or write because the dark moving blobs were so distracting. I went to the doctor and optician about them but they examined me and said it was nothing to worry about.

My brain learnt to edit them out, even in bright sunlight, and it's only when I read threads like this that I remember them. I can still see them if I look for them.

Your brain can edit out a LOT, apparently. That's the reason people don't notice their own noses, even though they're actually in their field of vision.

@ShakespearesFister
Hi, thankyou for telling me about you experiences with floaters. Do you still remember how long it take for you to finally learn to ignore them out?

@feren Sorry, I can't remember exactly - it was so long ago. I think they bothered me for a few weeks, but gradually I just noticed them less and less.

@ShakespearesFister
Oh, okay. Thankyou!!

I think it took me a few months to learn to ignore them. Now I occasionally notice them but it is usually at a time like now when I actually think about having them. I'm betting you will adjust even more quickly!

I have had floaters since I was a child, definitely from around aged 7.

When I changed opticians they were a bit concerned, but once I said since childhood, they relaxed

@tryingtobebetterallthetime
Yes i do hope so!! Thankyou for taking your time to having a chat with me your experience do helped me.

@AuditAngel
Does your floaters also look like long string, lines or blobs?? Have you ever annoyed by your floaters?